PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - Oct 30

Following are the main stories in Malaysian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE STAR (www.thestar.com.my)

- The internal turmoil in Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People's Justice Party) is getting from bad to worse with party leaders leaving the fold almost daily.

- Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) (TLMM.KL) has so far spent 1.3 billion ringgit of the 11.3 billion ringgit allocated for the high-speed broadband project it hopes to launch by next March, group chief executive officer Zam Isa said.

NEW STRAITS TIMES (www.nst.com.my)

- The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People's Justice Party) saga continued on Thursday as one of its assemblymen quit the party and its president acknowledged "frustration" among its members.

- The bodies of two primary school girls who drowned after a suspension bridge they were crossing collapsed on Monday were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday, 15km and 25km from the scene of the tragedy.

BUSINESS TIMES (www.btimes.com.my)

- Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, currently group managing director of property group Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MYRS.KL), is poised to join the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as its new chief investment officer, a source said.

- Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) PETR.UL is expected to pay an additional four billion ringgit in tax annually over the next five years with a streamlining of how tax is treated for assessment of upstream petroleum companies as proposed under the 2010 Budget, AmResearch Sdn Bhd said.

THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY (www.theedgedaily.com.my)

- Asian bourses succumbed to selling pressure on Thursday, continuing a three-day losing streak and reminding investors that the global economy is not out of the woods yet, analysts said.

THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE (www.themalaysianreserve.com)

- LKT Industrial Bhd's (LKTI.KL) biggest shareholder, Singapore Precision Engineering Ltd (SPE) is offering to buy the remaining 10 million shares or a 14.24 percent stake in the company at 2.10 ringgit a share totalling to 21.2 million ringgit, LKT Industrial said.

- The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) may release details of a scheme that will enable its contributors to withdraw current and future savings in their Account 2 for property purchases in December, sources said.

THE SUN (www.sun2surf.com)